Let's Talk About Love
by Marielyfan
Summary: Just Caskett being Caskett and going into life together.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hello guys! Well, this is my new story. It's just a bit of the adventures of Caskett. Hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: For the greater good, I don't own Castle.**

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"Good job Detective" said Captain Gates.

"Thank you, sir" Beckett answers half-heartedly. It had been an extremely difficult case that involved the murder of two children by their step-father and it had taken its toll on everyone.

"Ready to go?" Castle says as she walks back to her desk.

"More than ready" she answers as she collects her stuff.

Back at the loft, Beckett goes straight to the bathroom to take a shower. Castle figures she's probably hungry so he starts making dinner.

After getting out of the shower she puts some comfortable clothes on and as soon as she walks into the living room, she smells something delicious.

"Mmm, Castle... What are we having?" She says as she goes to hug him.

"Some pasta. Are you hungry?"

"Very"

She sets the table while he finishes the pasta and the sit down to eat.

"So, are you still procrastinating on starting your new book?" She asks between bites.

"When have you known me not to?" He smirks.

"You have got to stop doing that! What will you teach our kids?" she teases him.

He almost chokes on his bite. He had never heard her talk about having children so openly. "_Kids?_ As in more than one?"

"We'll start with one, don't worry" she says with a playful smile.

The next day, they get a call about a body drop at 7 am, so they get ready and head out to the address they're given.

The crime scene is a filthy-looking alley behind a building, an all too familiar setting. They're met by Esposito.

"Umm, Beckett..." He starts doubtfully "I'm not sure you should be taking this one..."

"Why not?" She says walking into the scene. As soon as she sees the body, it dawns on her, and the expression on her face changes from professional to utter horror.

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**AN: So? What did you think? I know it was short, but hopefully, chapters will get longer.**

**I'm planning for this to be my first multi-chapter story, and I already have an idea of where I want this to go, but if you have any ideas or any constructive critisism, they're wlecome.**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: The reaction for my first chapter was very surprising! Thank you guys! Here's the second chapter! i hope I don't disappoint**

**Disclaimer: Castle ain't mine.**

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_The next day, they get a call about a body drop at 7 am, so they get ready and head out to the address they're given._

_The crime scene is a filthy-looking alley behind a building, an all too familiar setting. They're met by Esposito._

_"Umm, Beckett..." He starts doubtfully "I'm not sure you should be taking this one..."_

_"Why not?" She says walking into the scene. As soon as she sees the body, it dawns on her, and the expression on her face changes from professional to utter horror._

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Memories start rushing through her head as she remembers what happened all those years ago. She can't go back there! If she does, she's not sure she'll make it.

"Oh, Beckett..." Sighs Lanie, who's already examining the body.

Castle, who had stayed behind talking to a uniform, joins them. "So, it looks like our victim..." He stops when he sees the look on Beckett's face, and then sees the body.

"You want to be taken off this one?" Ryan asks softly snaping her out of her thoughts and she composes herself.

"I can be professional, I can handle it" she says controlling her emotions.

Castle's not so sure but he knows better than to try to talk her out of it when clearly, her mind's already set, so he's just there for her.

"So, what's the story?" She asks her coworkers.

"The victim was stabbed several times and left here to bleed out. Wallet and personal effects were still on her when we found her so it wasn't a mugging. Liver temp suggests she was killed between 5 and 3 hours ago" Lanie describes carefully.

"I already took the statement from the guy that found her" Ryan continues. "He didn't see anything out of the ordinary"

"Vic's name is Melissa Johnson according to the ID. A defense lawyer." Adds Esposito.

_A defense lawyer, _thinks Beckett. Not only the crime scene and the body – which she had memorized because of all the time she spent looking into her case – but she's also a lawyer! She breathes in and out reminding herself that this is not her mother. She knew who her killer was and all was fine… "Alright, let's leave CSU to finish and we should start looking for her next of kin"

At the precinct, Espo calls Beckett. "Hey Beckett, we found her family. Her husband and daughter are coming in..."

_Not a husband and a daughter too!, _she runs her hand through her hair. "I'll take care of it" he just nods in her direction and keeps working.

"Are you sure?" Whispers Castle to her.

"I'm fine" she simply says.

When the husband and daughter come in, she leads them into the break room.

"Is this about Melissa?" The man asks, holding the young woman close.

"Unfortunately, it is. She was found dead behind the building the law firm she worked for is." She says slowly, letting it sink in.

"Oh my god" the young woman covers her mouth and starts crying while her father tries to console her.

Beckett sighs and struggles to keep her emotions in check. She has a job to do and she plans to do it the best way she can. She'll bring closure to this family.

She asks all the questions she has to and dismisses them. As they leave, she looks at the girl's face and can't help but recognize her younger self in it.

She goes straight to the bathroom after they leave and ignores Castle's calling. She needs a minute alone

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**AN: Hope you enjoyed!**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Thanks for the follows, favorites and reviews!**

**Disclaimer: It'd be fun, but unfortunately I don't own Castle**

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_She asks all the questions she has to and dismisses them. As they leave, she looks at the girl's face and can't help but recognize her younger self in it._

_She goes straight to the bathroom after they leave and ignores Castle's calling. She needs a minute alone._

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As soon as she's locked inside the stall, she starts crying. And for some reason, she can't stop the tears. It was inevitable she was going to break down; she just hadn't expected it to be so bad. She had closure! It was all over! It was just all too similar. And it brought her back to that fatidic night.

After a few minutes she can finally control herself. She goes out of the stall, fixes her makeup and as soon as she's out of the bathroom, she sees that Castle is waiting for her at her desk, so she goes to him.

"Are you okay?" He says. "I mean _really_ okay"

"I'm trying" she sighs.

"This is not your mother's case" he tells her sternly. He didn't like seeing her suffering like this, and he knew how much her mother's case had affected her. He didn't want her to remember all that; he wanted to keep her safe. But there is only so much he can do.

The murder board has been put together. The cases the lawyer had worked on were being sent in the morning. For the moment they had to go through the victim's financial and telephone records, which is what Beckett was still doing at 10 that night.

Esposito and Ryan had called it a day at the end of their shifts but were worried to leave Beckett working so late, but Castle was there so they figured she would be okay.

Castle was trying not to stall but he knew it was already getting late and that it was bad for her to get so preoccupied over one case, especially one like this.

"Hey, how's it going?" he goes to her desk after being in the break room for a while.

"Well, not too good..." she doesn't even look up from the files.

"Shouldn't we call it a night?" he asks trying not to sound too pushy.

She sighs. She knows what he's trying to do. "Don't worry about me, Castle" she finally meets his eyes.

"I do worry about you. I don't want this to become your mother's case" he says softly. "And I know you're trying to bring closure to this family, but in order to do that you need to be at your best, and you look like you need some sleep."

He's right and she knows that, but she needs to find at least one lead today.

"Come on Kate…" he almost begs. "Besides, the rest of the important evidence will come in tomorrow. There's not so much we can do with this" he looks at the mess of papers that used to be her desk.

"Alright…" she sighs as she puts a bit of order in the mess. Tomorrow she'll be at her desk all day long if that's what it takes to find something.

As it turned out, they needed more than two days to find an actual solid lead. At first they thought it was a guy that had been her client five years ago, but lost his case. He had just gotten out of jail 3 weeks ago. But he had a solid alibi.

They finally found the killer one week after the murder. It had been one of her coworkers. He had cleaned his tracks extremely well, except for the murder weapon, which he had in his apartment. They would have never suspected him had he been better at concealing the fact that he hated the victim for some case they had had years ago.

Their job is done, and Beckett can finally breathe again.

That night, as soon as they get to the loft, Castle asks her "What do you want for dinner?"

"Actually, I'm not that hungry... I'm going to bed" she announced to him.

"Okay" he answers after giving her a kiss. He knows that this case took its toll on her, and he's glad it's over.

He gets some dinner for himself, and after that, he goes to his office to get some writing done. About an hour into his writing, he hears Kate sobbing in their room. He immediately gets worried and goes into the bedroom. He goes to sit on the bed where she's laying and as soon as he does so, she sits up and hugs him.

"Shh, I'm here. It's okay" he sooths her.

"Why am I crying?" She asks between sobs. "I'm supposed to be relieved! We just closed a tough case and I should be glad that I could give the family some closure..." She didn't understand where all this was coming from.

"It just hit too close to home..." He tries to calm her. "It's okay to feel something"

"I'm not so sure about that..." She says finally getting a hold on her emotions.

"I've got an idea. Why don't we leave for a couple of weeks? Just leave the city" he says as if he got the best idea ever.

"I've got a job" she says matter-of-factly.

"I'm sure Ryan and Espo can handle it" he tries to convince her. "And I'm sure Gates wouldn't have any problem giving you some time off"

"To the Hampton's?" She asks caving.

"If you want to. Or, we could go to that other place I have in Santa Monica"

"Santa Monica?" She breaks the embrace to look at him in disbelief. "As in Santa Monica, California?"

"Yep. I rarely go there but it's a really nice place"

"I'm not sure..." She bites her lower lip.

"Come on! It'll be fun!" He starts getting excited.

She thinks about it. "Fine. As long as we don't have to deal with the murder of a dead man falling into our pool, it should be fun" she smiles at him and he smiles back. "When do we leave?"

"We could leave as early as tomorrow"

"I'll have to talk Gates first"

"Alright" he kisses her.

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**AN: If you have any ideas or commets they're greatly appreciated!**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: So, on this couple of chapters that they'll be on California, I've borrowed a couple of characters from the show Private Practice. I couldn't help it! ;)**

**Disclaimer: Castle belongs to ABC**

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As it turned out, Gates was more than willing to give a couple of weeks off to her best detective, so they left for Santa Monica after her shift on Friday afternoon.

Their plane left at 8 that night, so they arrived at his house around 2 am. As soon as they got there, they went straight to bed.

The next morning, they spent in bed together, and then he gave Beckett a tour of the magnificent two story house, which looked a lot like his-or rather-their Hampton's house. The only difference was that here, they had neighbors and the house was on the beach.

After getting some lunch, he decides to write a little and she relaxes on the beach that's right behind the house.

She starts reading _Frozen Heat _probably for the millionth time and she notices a woman with beautiful dark red hair that's relaxing on the beach right behind the house on the left. The woman notices her so Beckett waves politely. The red head gets up and starts walking towards Beckett, so she sits up on her chair.

"Hello" says the woman friendly.

"Hey"

"Do you mind if I sit?" The woman asks gesturing towards the chair beside Beckett.

"Go ahead"

"I'm Addison" she says before she sits down

"Kate"

"Is Richard here?" Addison asks, obviously familiar with her neighbor.

"He's inside, writing"

"Oh" Addison looks at the book. "He is a pretty good writer"

"It helps having an extraordinary inspiration" Castle says going towards them. "Hello, Dr. Montgomery" he greets her.

"You can call me Addison, Richard. You know that."

"Not after all you did for me" says Castle seriously as he sits with Beckett.

"A Doctor?" Beckett asks surprised.

"A double-board-certified neonatal surgeon none the less" says Castle admiringly.

"Wow, quite the title" Beckett says.

"Yeah well..." Addison sighs giving them a small smile. "So, what brings you back here Richard? It's been a while…"

"Just spending some quality time with my fiancée" he proudly hugs Beckett.

"Your fiancée? So apparently it didn't work out with Gina either..." she says curious.

"Apparently not" he answers smiling.

Beckett stars getting uncomfortable so she asks them, "if you don't mind me asking… How do you know each other?"

"Well, it's actually kind of a long story..." Addison starts.

"Which starts before Alexis was born" Castle continues. "It was not an easy pregnancy, so I called the best OBGYN I could find, which happened to be Dr. Montgomery. She helped Meredith a lot and made sure that everything was going smoothly. The delivery got difficult but she managed to save them both" he continued looking gratefully over at Addison. "I owe her everything"

"I was doing my job Richard"

"And I am thankful you were"

"Wow" Beckett was surprised to see with how much admiration he looked at the Doctor, and after knowing what she had done, she understood.

"Yeah, well that happened and we parted ways, until about 7 years ago, when I had just moved here, we met again. He was here with Gina" Addison continues.

"It's quite a story" Beckett says.

"Indeed it is" Addison nods with a smile. "So..." She changes the subject. "You're the famous Nikki Heat?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"Yep" she was a fan. What wasn't Beckett surprised?

"And you're a cop?"

"Homicide Detective"

"It must be a pretty dangerous job..."

"Yeah, well. We do our best" Beckett shrugs.

At that moment, Addison's pager starts going off. She unclips it and swears under her breath. "Sorry guys, I have to go" she says getting up.

"No problem" answers Castle. "It was nice to see you again Doctor"

"Likewise, Richard. And it was a pleasure to meet you Detective" she says looking at Beckett.

"Kate, and the pleasure was all mine"

Addison then leaves and they go back into the house.

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**AN: So, a bit of backstory. What did you think?**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: I'm glad you're enjoying this!**

**Disclaimer: Castle belongs to ABC**

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The next morning, Beckett wakes up to the smell of something delicious being prepared in the kitchen. She smiles as she think how lucky she is to be with Castle, and she remembers the talk they had with their neighbor yesterday. Her thoughts go to all the things she will experience with him: their wedding, becoming parents, being together forever. Being together, _always_.

The smile fades as her mind wanders to all the moments she will not only enjoy with Castle, but moments that she won't be able to live through with her mother.

"Good morning" Castle comes into the room holding a tray with breakfast on it. His huge smile disappears as he sees the lost look on her face. "Kate?" he asks putting the tray on the bedside table and sitting by her side.

"Hmm?" she asks breaking out of her reverie.

"You okay?" he gets near her.

"Yeah" she gives him a small smile.

"You don't seem very sure" he kisses her.

"It's just…" she bites her lower lip. "I'm thinking about our future" she smiles a little.

He smiles back at her. "And, is something bothering you?"

She just looks at him.

"You're thinking about your mother" his smile fades.

"Yeah… I just can't stop thinking about everything she's missing… I mean, she would've loved you" she smiles at the thought.

"Why wouldn't she? I mean, I got you to love me, didn't I?" he smiles softly at her.

"You did" she holds his hands.

"It's okay to miss her, but you need to remember that she would've wanted you to go on and live your life. She must be extremely proud of all her daughter has accomplished"

"You're right" she sighs.

"That doesn't mean you'll stop thinking about her"

"I'll never stop thinking about her"

"Good" he hugs her.

The next day, Castle shows Beckett a bit of the city. They're walking on the famous Santa Monica pier, arm in arm, ignoring the fact that the place's packed with tourists. They feel like they are the only ones in the world when they're together like that.

At some point, they find a bench and they sit down.

"How are you enjoying the city?" He asks.

"It's pretty" she simply answers. They sit in comfortable silence until she turns to stare at her. He clearly has something on his mind. "Spill" she looks at him.

He sighs. "I was just wondering... Did you really mean that thing about having kids?" He's careful. He doesn't want to scare her.

She lifts an eyebrow questioningly. "Well... Yeah"

"I mean, now?"

"Well, I've always wanted to have children, and we're in love and happy... Why not?" A smile lights her face.

He smiles at how much she's changed. And he also starts thinking about how cute their children will be! "I love you" he kisses her.

"For some reason, I love you too" she teases.

"Oh, there are many reasons and you know that" he smirks.

"Mmm, I do" she bites her bottom lip.

They just stay there holding each other until Castle says, "how about we continue the sightseeing?"

"Sure" she gets up but immediately regrets it as the world starts to spin around her. She has to close her eyes and sit back down for a second before it all comes back to normal.

"Are you okay?" Castle asks concerned.

"I'm fine... I'm probably just hungry" she gets up more carefully this time.

"Alright" he humors her. That could be it, but he'll keep an eye on her. "I'm starting to get hungry myself. I know this great place where they have amazing food" they start walking in the direction of the restaurant.

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**AN: Any ideas or constructive critisism are welcome!**


	6. Chapter 6

After a week of being in California, Castle and Beckett have visited the highlights of the city and gotten a lot of time together.

They're very happy.

That morning, they're in the back of the house, eating breakfast, listening to the sea and enjoying each other's company, when Addison gets out of her house and goes towards them.

"Hello Doc!" Castle says cheerfully.

"Morning" adds Beckett.

"Good morning" smiles Addison. "I won't bother you very long; I just came by to invite you over for dinner."

"That would be great! When?" Beckett.

"When are you guys free?"

"We're on vacation. We're always free" retorts Castle. "You are the super busy Doctor."

"Right" Addison rolls her eyes. "Can you come over... let's say… tomorrow?"

"Sure" Beckett smiles.

"Great. See you tomorrow night. You don't have to bring anything"

"But we will" says Castle.

"Of course you will" Addison shakes her head. "I'll leave you to it" she walks to her house.

"I guess we have plans for tomorrow night" says Castle.

"I guess we do" she kisses him.

The next night, they're going over to Addison's.

"You look nervous" he glances over at Beckett.

"What?" She frowns. "I'm not nervous"

"Just sayin'" he shrugs.

Addison goes out of her house to meet them, followed by a man.

"Hey guys"

"Hey" they answer in unison. Castle hands her a bottle of wine.

"Richard, Kate, I want you to meet Jake Riley, my husband. Jake, these are the neighbors I talked to you about" she introduces them.

"Hello" the man says as they shake hands.

"Nice to meet you" Beckett says.

"So, a detective and a writer" Jake says as they walk into the house. "I must say, it's an interesting pairing"

"Tell me about it" Beckett rolls her eyes smiling.

"And what do you do, Jake? If I may ask" says Castle as Addison starts giving them glasses of wine.

"I'm a doctor too"

"Really? What kind?" Beckett asks.

"I'm a fertility specialist"

"A fertility specialist and an OBGYN. A match made in heaven" Castle smiles.

"Indeed" adds Addison. "You know… The food's going to be ready in a couple of minutes, so do you want to go outside to enjoy the view?"

"Sure" answers Castle.

So they go outside, and start talking about a bit of their lives, the job and New York.

Suddenly, Beckett starts feeling herself drifting and suddenly the world goes dark, and she falls to the ground. Immediately, Castle rushes to her, followed by the couple of doctors.

"Beckett!" He touches her face. "Kate! Can you hear me?"

Meanwhile, Jake's checking her pulse.

"We should bring her inside" says Addison, concern covering her features.

Castle takes her in his arms and lays her down on the couch. He hovers around the doctors that are checking her vitals and making sure she's alright.

"Kate? Kate? Can you hear me?" Addison says, letting her professional-self take over.

"Pulse and breathing are normal. I'll go get a wet towel" Jake says walking to the kitchen.

"Mmm" Beckett mumbles and Castle runs to her side. "What happened?" She opens her eyes seeing Addison hovering over her and Castle holding her hand.

"You loss consciousness" answers Addison breathing a sigh of relief as Jake walks into the room and places the towel on the brunette's forehead. "And scared the living hell out of Richard" she tries to lighten the mood.

"Mmm. You did" he whispers to her and kisses her on the forehead. He lets out a breath he didn't realize he was holding.

"I'm alright now" she removes the rag from her head and gets up.

"That's not a good-" Addison starts.

Beckett gets up but immediately sits down again to avoid falling.

"-idea" The redhead finishes laying Beckett down again and putting the rag on her head again.

Beckett closes her eyes and sighs.

"Had this happened before?" Jake asks.

"Not really" Beckett answers as she slowly gets up to a sitting position.

"You have been dizzy a couple of times" Castle steps in as he sits with his fiancée.

"Nothing too serious" Beckett glares at him.

"Have you been sleeping and eating enough?" Addison sits on the chair in front of the couch.

"Never have I slept or eaten more properly than this week"

"Any chance you're pregnant?" Addison asks.

The question hangs in the air. Castle's and Beckett's eyes widen in astonishing synch.

"I- Umm... I'm not sure" she admits thinking back.

"Last period?"

"Never been good at keeping track" Kate starts playing with her fingers when she realizes that pregnancy is a very good possibility.

"Well, let's not jump to conclusions. Besides, I'm an OBGYN. First thing I think is pregnancy, but it's not necessarily that" Addison clarifies. "Anyway, losing consciousness like this is not good. How about you go by the Practice tomorrow and we check you out?"

"That'd be a good idea" Castle says.

"Well, I'll call you tomorrow morning to tell you when you can come in. Now, Richard, take her home and make sure she drinks plenty of water and that she's well rested" Addison helps Beckett up.

"Sorry I ruined the evening... Oh gosh we haven't even had dinner yet! I'm so sorry!" Beckett says.

"Don't worry about it Kate" Jake says softly. "You didn't ruin anything. You just take care of yourself"

"We're doctors. We understand" Addison gives her a reassuring smile. "We'll just make sure to have dinner with you guys before you leave"

"Certainly" Castle says. "Thank you guys for everything"

"Not a problem. And I'll be seeing you two tomorrow" Addison says as they leave.

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**AN: I hope you're liking it!**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: You can't imagine the joy I felt when I discovered that the Castle and Private Practice sets were right next to each other! Anywho... Hope you're liking the story!**

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Addison could fit them into her schedule up to two days later at noon, so by 11:45 they got into the _Seaside Wellness _waiting room.

While Beckett goes to the receptionist, Castle glances around nervously.

"You look nervous" she says.

"What?" he snaps out of his thoughts. "I'm not nervous"

"Just sayin'" she smirks. "It's all going to be okay" she softly tells him as they sit down.

"I should be the one reassuring you" he holds her hand. "After all, I'm the one who has already been through all of this"

"I'm allowed to be there for you too, you know?" she smiles as she leans on him.

"Katherine Beckett" they hear a young man call out. "Follow me, please"

They follow him into an exam room. "I'm Dell" the blond-haired guy greets them amicably. "Dr Montgomery will he here in a second, I'm just going to take some samples first. Sit down here Miss Beckett" he gestures to an exam table.

"Kate" she sits down on the table a bit uncomfortably as Castle pulls a chair over to her side.

"First a blood test" the guy says as he pulls over a tray of instruments. He takes her blood, and then asks her to give him a urine sample.

"That's all I'm going to need from you, Kate" he smiles.

Right on cue, Addison steps into the room. "Richard, Kate" she greets them. "Follow me to my office"

They enter a very nice office and sit down in front of her desk.

"Alright, now we have to wait for the results, but first I'm going to need a bit of history" she says as she starts filling Beckett's chart. "What are your symptoms?"

"I- umm… I've been lightheaded, I… well, you saw me faint yesterday…" she says thinking back.

"Any nausea? Vomiting?"

"Not really"

"You really can't recall your last period?"

"No…"

They go on with the patient history, measure weight and vital signs until Dell comes in and hands Addison some papers. She goes over them briefly and smiles. "Congratulations you guys, you're having a baby"

Their features change comically in synch, from calm to confusion, to shock to complete and utter happiness. They both get this goofy look on their faces as they look at each other.

"I'll give you two a minute" Addison says as she leaves them alone.

"We're going to have a baby" she has this huge smile on her face mirroring Castle's.

"We are" he kisses her. "We're having a little girl" he says admiringly.

"Or a little boy" she smirks.

"Of course" he kisses her again, but this time it last longer.

"Hey you two love birds" Addison says as she comes in.

They immediately break apart and straighten up a bit.

"If you're done… It's not over yet" she smiles softly.

"Do we get to see the ultrasound now?" Castle says getting excited.

"We're a bit early for that" Addison explains.

"How far along am I?" Beckett asks.

"About 6 weeks. Ultrasounds are usually scheduled after 8 weeks. So you can send me the info of your OB in New York and I can tell them all they need to know"

_Right…_ _We're going back to New York…_ she kind of had forgotten that they are only on vacation and that they- well- she has a job to go back to. _Oh, god the job!_ She has no idea what she's going to do about her job! And Castle! He's going to be_ so_ over protective of _everything!_ She is definitely not ready.

She starts hyperventilating and Castle holds her hand. "Kate? Kate, breathe." He tries to sooth her but has no idea of what's going on.

"I'm not ready…" she whispers as she tries to calm down.

90% of the women Addison treats go through this sooner or later so she gets up and gets her a glass of water as she makes sure Kate's okay. She puts the glass in front of Beckett and decides that it would be a good moment to step in and help Castle a bit.

"Kate, you need to relax. You need to take it easy now. For your baby's sake" she says softly. "And Castle's apparently" she smirks glancing at Castle who looks terrified. He's just not used to seeing her that way.

Beckett gets to grips with what's going on and takes a few deep breaths. "Sorry"

"It's completely normal" Addison says calmly as Castle sighs, relieved.

"Still… I freaked _him_ out" she gives him a small smile.

"I cannot wait to see him in the delivery room" Addison retorts now that the mood has lightened up.

"Ha-ha" he says sarcastically.

Beckett squeezes his hand and looks over at him saying thank you. He answers by nodding his head slightly.

"So, let's recap" Addison says getting back to business. "You're 6 weeks pregnant, you are a bit dehydrated so I want you to keep an eye on that for the lightheadedness to subside a bit, and everything else looks great. You'll need to follow up with your OB in New York and well… I wish you both the best" she smiles and gets up.

Castle and Beckett get up too. "Thank you very much, doctor Montgomery" Kate thanks her.

"It's a pity you won't be our doctor. I saw how great you were with Meredith…"

"Let's just hope that this is not as troublesome a pregnancy" the doctor says.

"Of course, of course" Castle answers putting his arm around Beckett.

"When are you guys leaving?"

"In…" he has to think about it. "Two days! The day after tomorrow?" he had completely lost track of time.

"You look surprised" Addison says amusedly.

"We've been having such a good time here" Beckett says.

"So tonight's your last night here?"

They nod.

"Oh, we won't be able to have dinner…" Addison says. "Guess you'll have to come back soon" she smiles.

"Guess we will" Castle answers.

They say their goodbyes and the happy couple leave the Practice and go celebrate… and pack to go back to New York.

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**AN: Any ideas or comments? Send 'em my way!**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Glad so many of you are liking the story! These next three chapters are going to be a bit different... They're basically going to be kind of like my version of "Under Fire". They're going to be heavily based on it, and I hope you like it**

**Disclaimer: Castle ain't mine**

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Castle and Beckett are back in their New York loft. They start unpacking and when that's done, it's time for dinner, so they order some Chinese food. When they're done eating, they sit comfortably on the couch.

"So…" Castle breaks the silence. "When should we start telling people?"

"I- I would like to wait 'till the first trimester is over" she answers softly. She knows he's probably dying to tell everyone about it, but she has to feel more certain first. Despite her better judgment, she just can't stop thinking about the worst case scenario. She remembers that he told her once that being a writer he always jumped to the worst case scenario and wonders if he's thinking of it now.

"Okay" he senses the doubt on her voice, and, although he's pretty much ready to shout it from the rooftops, he's also willing to wait until she's ready. He squeezes her hand to reassure her. Everything is going to be okay.

As they settle back into a comfortable silence, she's willing herself to bring up a subject that she knows is probably going to be a hard one to discuss, but needs to be addressed.

"About my job…" she starts doubtfully.

"Yeah…" he's a bit surprised, but also glad that she was the one to bring up the subject.

"I'm going to have to talk to Gates about this soon"

"_We_" he takes her hands. "_We _are going to talk to Gates about this"

She gives him a little smile, but then becomes serious again. "They're going to put me on desk duty. And I know it's for my own safety, it's just that…"

"Just that…?" he nudges her gently when she pauses.

"I feel like I'm going to be useless" he tries to interrupt her but she continues. "I know, I'm not going to be useless, but I can't help feeling that way…" she drifts off.

"It's normal to feel like that" he reminds her.

"It's just that I- I feel… so scared. And just the fact of being scared scares the hell out of me! I'm usually in control and now… I'm not in control anymore! Does that even make any sense?" she cocks her head to the side feeling helpless, looking at Castle for answers.

"It makes complete sense. But don't take my word for it, I'm a writer, everything makes sense to me" he's glad to see her smile at that comment. "It's okay to be scared," he continues. "And it's also okay to lose control every once in a while. You just have to remember that I'm here for you, _always_." He brings her into his arms. "You just tell me when you're ready to talk to Gates and we'll go from there, alright?"

"Alright" she says a little groggy. She's exhausted from the day and being in Castle's arms just feels so right…

"Come on," he says as he helps her up. "Let's get you to bed."

The next morning, they're woken up by Beckett's cellphone.

"Mmm" he mumbles sleepily as she answers her phone.

"We'll be right there" she hangs up. "We've got a case" she tells him as she gets up.

They get ready, and head to the crime scene, which happens to be a building that looks in awful shape.

"It looks that there just was a fire here…" Beckett says looking at the structure.

"In fact," Ryan steps in. "Firefighters were called in early this morning, they found our victim when they put the fire out." He continues as they step into the building.

"Crime scene at a fire? Never done one of these before" Castle says.

"After this, you might not want to. The building was being rehabbed so the place was supposed to be empty. I guess our victim didn't get the memo." Ryan explains.

"Do we know who our victim is?" Beckett asks being careful to avoid the debris.

"Ah… No…" Ryan gets interrupted by his phone ringing. "Wow, wow, wow, oh my god, oh my god…" he says getting his phone out. "It's Jenny, it's go time" he answers the phone. "Hi Jenny, you having contractions? Are you…" he listens to the call.

Castle and Beckett look at each other amusedly. She can't help wondering how Castle's going to be when their time comes.

"Oh," Ryan says disappointed. "No, it's good to double-check if my phone's working. Or, triple check… Okay. Alright sweetie, talk to you soon" he hangs up. "False alarm"

"What, is she two days past her due date?" Castle asks.

"Three, so it could happen at any minute. Can you believe it? Me as a dad…"

"Oh, Ryan you're going to be great…" Beckett reassures him as she examines the building.

Castle has to restrain himself to not tell Beckett that she's also going to be great. "Did you guys pick a name?" he says instead.

"No, we couldn't agree on one so we're waiting to see if it's a boy or a girl and then decide" Ryan answers.

"May I suggest: _Cosmo_" Castle says as if that was the greatest name ever.

Beckett rolls her eyes. She's sure she's going to have to fight him to not name their child that.

"No, you may not" Ryan pointedly says. "And rather than pick a name for my kid, you should pick a date for your wedding"

"Pick a date for my wedding? I was planning on bringing her" he gestures at Beckett.

"Really?" She smiles. "When is that? I might have plans"

They go deeper into the building and they're met by two men.

"Hey," says one of the guys. "I'm Mark Kimball, this building's not safe. Do you guys really need to be in here?"

"It's where our crime scene is" Beckett takes the lead.

"Ah, then don't stay any longer than you have to. The fire did structural damage; I need to clear the building"

"We should be in and out" Ryan says.

"Okay" says Mark as he and the guy start leaving.

"Thanks" Beckett tells him getting to business.

Listening to this, Castle's not too sure that Beckett should be in there… Though he'd never tell her that. He appreciates his life way too much.

They go towards Lanie, who tells them what she knows and then the fire investigator tells them what she knows about the fire. Then they hear a noise that startles all of them.

"Whoa. What was that?" Castle asks.

"The building," answers the investigator. "You guys should probably go"

"Sounds good" Castle turns around and leaves, hoping Beckett will do the same. He wants to drag her out of there but knows that she'd be pissed off if he did that. "See ya"

Beckett rolls her eyes. "I'm… marrying… him" _and having his baby! _She's not sure if she's glad or mad at the fact that he didn't drag her out of there.

"Yeah…" answers Ryan.

"Yeah, um… Why don't we just look into whoever runs this place, see if they know who might have been in here" Beckett gets back to business.

"Right"

The two detectives head outside and are met by Castle.

"We're done here," Beckett says getting to the driver's side of her car. "Let's head back to the precinct" she tells Ryan, who also goes to his car.

"Sorry I leaped out of there and kind of left you alone" says Castle feeling foolish as they pull into traffic.

"I can take care of myself Castle, I already told you that" she says matter-of-factly.

"No, I trust you, but I kind of feel useless"

"You're not useless Castle… Besides this is just getting started. There'll come a time when I'm not going to be able to see my feet, and when the baby starts crying in the middle of the night and I'm going to need you there for basically everything"

"I cannot wait for that" he says getting excited imagining her growing with their child.

"Mmm, well _I _can wait a little longer" she smirks.

They get to the precinct and start working on the case. They talk to the owner of the building and they also discover that the victim was a fire investigator too.

Everything's running smoothly, they get a few leads… But everything goes completely wrong…

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**AN: Any comments or ideas are appreciated!**


	9. Chapter 9

_Everything's running smoothly, they get a few leads… _But everything goes completely wrong when Esposito and Ryan get trapped inside a building that's on fire.

Castle and Beckett rush to the scene and they look at what's going on. Firefighters are everywhere trying to put the fire out and securing the area. The detective takes a look at the flaming building and a wave of uncertainty and helplessness washes over her. Her people might be in there and there's nothing she can do about it.

Castle tries to call them on his cellphone with no result. "Still no answer. Not from Ryan or Esposito"

"Detective" the chief of the fire department goes to her. "Are you sure they're inside?"

"Yeah, they were checking the building in connection with an arson homicide and they haven't called in yet. You need to alert your rescue teams"

"Detective, the building's fully involved. I just had to pull out the interior tac teams. I can't send in a rescue company until it's more contained"

"Wait, more contained?" she asks in disbelief. "If my guys are in there I need you to bring them out" she almost demands.

"If we could get in there, I would. But there's been a partial collapse inside, and I almost lost six of my guys. We'll do everything we can detective, but this building's a fire storm in every floor. If your guys are in there, I'm sorry, they're probably already gone" he turns around.

"Chief," he turns back. "The fire, what started it?" she asks him.

"Shattered windows and structural damage indicate some kind of explosion" he walks away.

"Maybe, um…" Castle tries to find hope. "Maybe they weren't inside"

"Their car's here and they haven't called. They're inside and…" she starts getting worked up. "I shouldn't have let them go in, not alone. I should've just…"

"There's no way you could've known that," he interrupts her. "This isn't you, it's the arsonist!"

Her phone starts ringing and she takes it out. "It's Jenny" she sighs.

"Why would she be calling you?"

"Maybe she's heard from them, maybe she knows they're safe" she starts getting her hopes up as she puts her on speaker phone. "Jenny?"

"Kate! Thank god" Jenny says obviously relieved. "Have you heard from Kevin?"

"No, I haven't. Have you?" Beckett's hopes drop like a stone.

"No, I've been calling him to test our system, and he's not answering. I'm freaking out a little bit, um… Do you have any idea where he is?"

Beckett feels fear run through her body. Neither her nor Castle are capable of answering the question.

"Kate? Kate, are you there?"

"Yeah… Yeah, I'm here"

"What's going on? Where's Kevin?"

"Jenny, I need you to stay calm" Beckett says not only for Jenny's benefit, but also for hers. "Okay? Something's happened" The detective explains what's going on.

At some point, the firefighters start moving everybody back, and when they ask what's going on, it's clear that the situation is getting worse by the minute.

"Kate!"

Beckett feels a wave of nausea when she recognizes that voice. She turns around and Lanie is standing there looking completely helpless, much like Kate herself was feeling. She braces herself. She not only has to hold herself together, but also her best friend and Jenny. She cannot fall apart. Not now.

She gives her some words of encouragement and then calls Gates to give her an update, while Castle studies some files, to see if he can find something relevant.

"Beckett!" Lanie calls her as she goes towards them with Jenny in tow. "She was at the police barricades"

"Jenny, you shouldn't be here" she's not even sure _she _should be there.

"The hell I shouldn't, my husband's in there. Oh…" she says when a sharp pain hits her.

"What's-what's going on?" Beckett says worried.

"She's having contractions" Lanie answers.

"You're in labor?!" Castle says in shock.

Jenny nods.

"How far apart?" Lanie asks.

"Five minutes, maybe"

"Whoa! No, she can't be… We've got to get you to the hospital!" says Castle.

"Medic! Over here. This woman's in labor" Beckett calls to a guy.

"No, I'm not leaving. Not without Kevin"

"Jenny, there's nothing you can do here" Kate says.

"He's inside Kate! If he doesn't make it out, if this is it… I need to be here"

"Let me at least get you inside of an ambulance. You need to lie down so we can make sure that everything is okay" Lanie caves.

"Okay, but I'm not leaving without him" Jenny says firmly.

"Okay" Beckett tries to not get overwhelmed with all that's going on. She can't lose focus. She looks over at Castle as Jenny and Lanie leave. He looks completely lost and worried. "I can't believe this is happening. This is like some kind of a dream" she starts finding it hard to breathe. "I keep waiting to wake up and it's like I can't do anything…" She tries to catch her breath. "It's like there's nothing we can do"

"All we can do is be here for them" he knows he sounds clichéd but that's the best he's got. The situation is far from ideal. His fiancé is pregnant, _very _near a building that's on fire and she's making herself sick with worry. So he goes back to studying the files. He needs to find a way to get the guys out of there, that's the only thing he can do. He wanted to make himself useful? This is the time.

Her phone starts ringing again and when she puts it on speaker phone they hear only static. "Hello?" she says.

"Beckett? Beckett can you hear me?" she feels light headed when relief washes over her as she hears that voice…


	10. Chapter 10

_"Beckett? Beckett can you hear me?" she feels light headed when a wave of relief washes over her as she hears that voice…_ "Ryan, is that you?" she asks into the phone.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's me Beckett. Listen, the building that we went into, it wasn't the next arson target it was his lair, he rigged it to blow up and now we're trapped inside" Ryan yells over the roaring of the fire. "The whole place is in flames"

"Yes!" Beckett loses it. "I know, Ryan, we're right outside, we've got the whole fire department here, we thought… you guys were dead" it pains Castle to listen to the vulnerability in her voice.

"Well, we will be soon if we don't get some help" Esposito says.

They immediately get the chief firefighter so that Ryan and Esposito tell them where they are, but they can't find the place on the building plans, so Castle calls the precinct to update them and try to get a hold on the original blueprints or something.

"And you're sure you don't see another way out?" Beckett asks Ryan over the phone.

"If there is, it's covered by debris. Any idea where that way out might be?"

"Castle's on the phone with the building department. He's trying to get a hold of the original blueprints"

"We're both getting sleepy, carbon monoxide's building up…"

"Ryan, you listen to me, you need to hang on, okay? They're coming for you" she can't lose her guys in there. She'd never forgive herself.

"Appreciate the pep talk, but we both know that the fire's too hot and they don't know where to look" he's having trouble breathing.

"No, Ryan…"

"We're going to lose the phone soon Beckett so… There's something I need you to do" he needs to talk to Jenny.

Beckett goes over to the ambulance where they're taking care of her. "Jenny"

"What, what is it?" Jenny asks between breaths.

"It's him" she hands the phone to Jenny.

"It's Kevin?" Jenny takes the phone. "Is it you?" she asks on the phone. "It's really you?" She listens to the phone and she sighs relieved. "Thank god. Where are you? The baby's coming" she listens again. "Inside…?"

Lanie looks at Beckett and the detective shakes her head. It's not looking good.

"Don't say that" Jenny says on the phone. "Please, don't say that"

Beckett's looking helplessly at Jenny and Castle turns her around gently. He knows that this all is taking a tremendous toll on her, on all of them.

Jenny moans out in pain as another contraction hits her. She breathes through it. "Kevin, please!" she starts to cry. "No, don't leave me" she pauses as she listens to him. "We need a name for the baby, we need to do that together" she listens to the names he picked.

That hits both Castle and Beckett. They can't help feeling identified to that couple who may be ripped apart forever. This could be them, saying their goodbyes on the phone and one of them never being able to meet their child. It's just too much.

"I love you so much, Kevin. I love you" the call gets cut. "Kevin? Kevin?" dread covers her features. "Kevin?!" she asks desperately. She sobs as she reluctantly hands the phone to Beckett. Lanie tries to remain calm. Castle's head drops and Beckett feels numb as she grabs her phone.

A few moments later Castle and Beckett walk away from the ambulance a bit. But she can still hear Jenny's moans of pain and realizes that that will be her in a couple of months, and that could be Castle inside that building. She's not sure she would be able to go through without him by her side.

Her thoughts are interrupted by the fire investigator, they catch a lead and they discover that the arsonist is building inspector Mark Kimball, so they go find him. Beckett spots him; he's taking a video of the fire. "Kimball," she points her gun at him. "Don't move"

He immediately turns around but is met by the barrel of Gate's gun.

"Basement, is there a way out?" Becket walks towards him still holding her gun. "Is there?" she demands authoritatively.

"I don't know what you're talking about"

She takes him by the arm and pushes him against the car that's behind him. "Is there a way out?" she turns him around so that he's facing her and wraps her hand around his neck. "Those guys in there, they are my friends. If they die, you die" Nothing can stop her now. She's got him and she's going to make him tell her all she needs to know to get her people out of there. "What's it going to be? It's your choice" the look on her face tells him that she means _every_ word.


	11. Chapter 11

_She takes him by the arm and pushes him against the car that's behind him. "Is there a way out?" she turns him around so that he's facing her and wraps her hand around his neck. "Those guys in there, they are my friends. If they die, you die" Nothing can stop her now. She's got him and she's going to make him tell her all she needs to know to get her people out of there. "What's it going to be? It's your choice" the look on her face tells him that she means every word._

He finally tells her how they can get them out of there. She tells another officer to take him into custody and runs to the chief fireman with the information. A rescue team goes in, and several minutes later, Esposito and Ryan are being dragged out of there _alive. _As soon as they see them Beckett and Castle run to hug them.

"Where's Jenny?" Ryan asks. Castle helps him to the ambulance where they are met by Lanie, Jenny and a beautiful baby girl.

"Kevin!" Jenny says relieved. "You're alive!"

"Javi!" Lanie immediately gets out of the ambulance to hug him.

As Castle and Beckett see the other two couples reunited, he brings her into her arms and she feels like an enormous weight has been lifted off her shoulders. She can breathe again and all she can do is smile. As she looks at Kevin meeting his little girl, her hand unconsciously goes to her belly, Castle notices this and puts his hand on top of hers, and for a brief moment their hands stay there, together, covering the amazing life they've created. He gives her a huge smile and all she can do, is give him one in return.

A couple of minutes later, Ryan and Esposito are being checked up, and Castle decides this would be a good time to head back home.

They say their goodbyes and get into the car. As soon as they're inside, Castle can finally ask what he's been dying to ask her since they found out Ryan and Esposito were trapped in a flaming building. "Are you okay?"

She sighs, "Yeah."

"Are you sure?" he softly asks.

"Now that they're okay, I feel much better. But I can still feel the adrenaline running through my body… Just thinking that I probably wouldn't see them again made my stomach flip, but now that they're okay… I can breathe again"

"You do know it's not your fault, right?"

"I sent them in there alone, I can't but feel responsible"

"Well, you're not" he says as she parks the car.

As they get into the loft he realizes that they haven't had anything to eat all day long. "You hungry?" he goes over to the kitchen.

"Not really…" she goes into the bed room. "I'm going to take a shower. I'm exhausted"

"You should eat something, you haven't eaten anything since this morning" he follows her into the bedroom.

"You're right…" she hadn't realized that she hadn't eaten all day long, and although she doesn't really feel like it, she knows that she should take a bite. "How about some pasta?"

"Sounds great" he hugs her. "You go take your shower and I'll make us dinner"

The next day Beckett starts getting ready to go to the precinct while Castle is making breakfast.

When she comes out of the room she sees Alexis sitting on one of the stools eating.

"Good morning, Alexis" she says going to the kitchen.

"Good morning, Beckett" the young girl turns around and flashes the detective a smile.

"Do you really have to go in today? After what happened yesterday they couldn't give you a day off?" Castle says getting some eggs and toast into a couple of plates.

"Ryan and Espo are off today and someone has to do the paperwork" she grabs a toast from one of the plates. "I'll be back as soon as I can, I promise. I'm not on-call today" she says between bites.

"Mmm" he can't really argue so he just kisses her.

Alexis clears her throat startling both adults. "Besides, you've got a meeting at Black Pawn" the young girl looks at him pointedly. She remembers the last time he missed a meeting, let's just say Paula was _mad_.

"Kid's right" Beckett smiles, but the smile fades as a wave of nausea goes through her. Castle notices so he pulls her closer and whispers a faint _"you okay?" _into her ear. She slowly nods after it passes.

"Everything alright?" the younger Castle asks carefully sensing the change of mood.

"Yeah" Beckett regains her composure. She checks her watch and realizes she has to leave now if she doesn't want to be late. "Damn, guess I'll have to eat out" she starts gathering her stuff.

"Come on!" Castle whines. "There's a lot of love put into this, you know?" he gestures to his breakfast as if it was the best thing in the world.

"Yeah, well" she says as she opens the door. "Guess you'll have to show me your_ love_ otherwise" she smiles seductively at him before turning around and closing the door, leaving an overwhelmed Castle and a smiling Alexis.

"You guys are so damn cute" the young girl says.

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**AN: I'm very happy you're liking the story! Thank you for all your support! And by the way, if you have any comments or ideas, send them my way! I could use some right now... So if there's anything you'd like to see, just tell me.**


	12. Chapter 12

Beckett's back in the loft a couple of hours later, right in time for lunch. She finds Alexis sitting on the couch reading a book. The young girl looks up and smiles at the detective as she closes the door and walks inside.

"Dad's still at his meeting" Alexis answers the unasked question and puts the book down.

A smell assaults Beckett's nostrils and she starts feeling sick.

"Grams is making lunch" the teen says almost apologetically as she sees the change on Beckett's face.

Beckett tries to keep it together. This would be the first time she was actually sick since she found out she was pregnant. _Breathe in and out_, but it becomes too much and she runs to the bathroom.

"Kate?" Concern clouds Alexis' face as she follows the older woman and stands outside of the bathroom. "Kate? You okay?"

"What's wrong dear?" Martha hears the fuss and gets out of the kitchen to find out what's going on. She hears Beckett throwing up and immediately grows concerned. "Is that Katherine?"

"Yeah... She came in, asked for dad and then ran to the bathroom..."

In that moment, Beckett comes out of the bathroom feeling terrible and is surprised to find Alexis and Martha standing there.

"Katherine, dear. Are you alright?" The older woman asks worriedly.

"Yeah..." She sighs. She starts to sway a bit. She hadn't had much for breakfast, and what she did eat, had just come back out.

Martha puts her arm around Beckett for support and they slide down the wall and sit on the floor. "Alexis, would you mind getting a glass of water?" The young girl goes into the kitchen without a word. She's not used to seeing Beckett like this. She just hopes that nothing's wrong.

Beckett puts her head against the wall and closes her eyes. She just feels bad. She hopes that the sickness doesn't get too bad for her.

"What's wrong, dear?" Martha asks softly.

Beckett just sighs, she's not sure she wants to share the news yet, even less without Castle there.

"Are you kids hiding something?" Realization dawns on Martha.

She's saved from answering when Castle comes in. His smile disappears the moment he sees Beckett sitting on the floor with his mother. Next thing you know he's kneeling in front them. "What's wrong?" Concern's covering his features.

Beckett opens her mouth to answer but is cut off by Martha. "Everything's alright, except for the fact that you children are hiding something from me" there's a mild reproach in her voice.

"I'm pregnant" Castle was ready to tell his mother to back off a bit, that they would tell her only when she needed to know, when he hears Beckett whisper those words. His eyes widen at the confession.

They hear a thud and a splash, and they turn to see Alexis, who just dropped the glass of water on the floor. The teen's jaw is almost on the floor too.

Beckett covers her face with her hands. She wasn't entirely sure why she had said it. But she had, and now she was surrounded by three Castles - well, two Castles and a Rodgers - with expressions of shock on their faces. She was just not used to being part of a family and having people around her that support her and are there for her. She didn't feel right hiding something so important from the people that care so much about her.

The first one to recover is Rick, who scoots over to Beckett's side and takes her into his arms. Next one is Martha.

"That is wonderful news!" She's ecstatic about it and has a huge smile on her face.

Out of nowhere, Castle and Beckett feel a couple of arms trying to wrap around them.

Beckett lets out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. She wasn't sure how Alexis would take the news, but the smile on her face and the twinkle in her eyes told her everything she needed to know.

Castle couldn't be more proud. He was going to be a father for the second time and now his family knew. He was over the moon.

"Wow you guys!" Alexis breaks the embrace. "This is so cool!" The smile on her face disappears and she gets up. "And I kind of made a mess…" She looks at them apologetically.

"It's okay, Alexis" the brunette slowly gets up, and so do Castle and Martha. "I'm feeling much better, I can get the water myself"

"And I'll help you clean this" Martha says.

"Hey guys..." Beckett calls them uncertainly, and they stop what they're doing to look at her. Castle wonders what she has to say. "I'm only like, 7 weeks along so... Would you mind keeping this to yourselves?" She asks carefully.

"Everything's going to be alright kiddo" Martha says softly, sensing the silent plea in Beckett's voice. She was thinking about the worst case scenario, all the things that could go wrong. The older woman didn't really like the idea that she was thinking like that, but she also couldn't blame her.

Castle hears it too, so he takes her hand and gives her a gentle squeeze. "Come on, let's get you to bed"

"I don't want to go to bed, besides, I was going to get some water" Beckett regains her spirits.

"Well, then go to the couch, and _I_ will get you your water"

She settles for that and makes herself comfortable on the couch.

As soon as Castle walks into the kitchen he sees the probable cause of Beckett's malaise. "Mother" he says as Martha walks into the kitchen. "What did I tell you about cooking?"

"Oh, Richard, that's nonsense. I just wanted to help. Isn't your mother allowed to do that once in a while?" Martha says unbothered.

"Of course mother, but please, for everybody's sake, leave the cooking to the rest of us" he goes out of the kitchen holding Beckett's glass of water. He sits by her side and notices that both Alexis and Martha are giving them some privacy.

She takes a few sips of the water and then starts turning the glass in her hands. "I'm sorry. I kind of blurted the news out…" she's feeling foolish. She wanted that moment to be special, with his family and her father there, around dinner… Not on the floor outside of the bathroom after having thrown up and in the middle of a hormone war within her body.

"Maybe it wasn't ideal, but it was done. And I'm so glad it was!" he can't contain his excitement. "Now we just have to figure out when to tell your dad"

"Now that Martha and Alexis know, I think it would be unfair to keep him out of the loop"

"I agree. Give him a call, we'll have dinner"

"Mmm-hmm"

"You hungry?"

"Yep"

"Mother! Alexis! We're going to have lunch, wanna come with us?" he calls out and he hears two affirmative responses. "Then let's go."


	13. Chapter 13

After a slow day at the precinct Beckett and Castle are at the loft getting ready for their dinner with Jim. Alexis and Martha had made themselves scarce, so the couple is alone.

"Your dad's going to be so happy" he says setting the table.

"Yeah" she smiles at the thought.

Right on schedule, they hear a knock on the door. Beckett goes to get it. She knows he's going to be over the moon about this, but she's feeling nervous nonetheless.

"Katie!" he hugs her as soon as she opens the door.

"Hey dad"

"Rick" he breaks the embrace with his daughter and shakes Castle's hand.

"Jim" he says respectfully.

"How are you taking care of my daughter?" he looks at Castle pointedly.

"I'm doing my best, sir" he answers honestly.

Beckett just shakes her head and invites her father into the dining room, where the places are already set. They talk about the job and about this and that over dinner. Jim knows that they didn't invite him over just to chit-chat, and he notices the absence of Martha and Alexis. They have something to tell him.

"Dad" Beckett takes the lead after they've had dessert. Castle gives her an encouraging nod. "We have something to tell you"

Jim looks expectantly at them, as Castle takes Beckett's hand.

"We're going to have a baby"

Jim takes a second to recover from the news and then a huge smile appears on his face. "That's wonderful news Katie" he gets up and the couple does so too. "I'm so happy for you two" he hugs his daughter. He breaks the embrace and Castle takes Kate into his arms "You're going to make me a grandpa" he looks proudly at the couple.

After continuing the conversation in the living room, Jim decides to call it a night. When he leaves, the couple goes to bed. They had a big morning tomorrow. They were going to finally be able to see the ultrasound of their little baby.

* * *

The next day, Castle and Beckett are sitting in a small waiting room at her OB's office. They're holding each other's hand, and each is lost in their own thoughts. They're about to see their baby!

"Kate Beckett" calls a woman in a lab coat getting out of her office.

The couple gets up and follows Dr. Elizabeth Evans into her office.

"Hello Kate" says the middle aged doctor sitting behind her desk.

"Hello Dr. Evans. This is Rick Castle" Beckett introduces them sitting in one of the chairs in front of the desk.

"Hello Mr. Castle" she shakes his hand and smiles. She had heard a lot about the writer from Kate. "Now, let's get down to business. I heard congratulations are in order" she smiles at the couple. "I received the paperwork from Dr. Montgomery and I've gone through it" she opens some files on her desk. "Everything looks fine. So, let's get this show on the road, shall we?" She gets up and invites Beckett to sit on the exam table at the other end of the room.

Beckett gets up and walks over to the table followed closely by a giddy Castle. He's trying his best not to look like he's about to burst with excitement - it isn't working. Kate notices when she looks at him and smiles at his antics.

"Alright, I'm going to take some of your vital signs first..." The doctor says getting to work. "Your blood pressure is a little high..." Dr. Evans doesn't look too thrilled.

"Why could that be?" Castle gets concerned immediately.

"Well, there are a number of factors that could cause this" she rolls the ultrasound machine next to the bed. "It is normal at this stage to get higher blood pressures, so there's nothing to worry about now. We will just monitor you closely" she tries to reassure them.

The couple's spirits get down. They were praying that this wouldn't be a problem down the road. Castle takes Beckett's hand and gives her a gentle squeeze. Whatever happens, they'll go through it together.

"Now, for the good part. Kate, I'm going to need you to unbutton your pants and roll your top up and lay down please" Dr. Evans says preparing the machine.

Beckett obeys and takes a deep breath.

"This is going to be a little cold..." The doctor warns putting some gel onto Beckett's stomach. "Here we go" she starts moving the ultrasound wand around. "Here is your baby" The doctor points to the screen.

The couple looks at the image in awe. Castle takes Beckett's hand and takes her as close as he can to him. They're not sure what they're looking at but that's their baby!

"And now let's listen to the heartbeat" Dr. Evans says after taking a few measurements

A thumping sound fills the room and both Castle and Beckett's eyes get misty and their smiles grow even larger.

The sound stops after a few seconds. "I'm going to give you guys a minute" Dr. Evans softly says as she gets out of the room.

"That's our baby!" Castle says with a giddy smile on his face.

"Yes it is" her smile matches Castle's and she has a few tears of joy on her cheeks.

He takes his hand to her face and softly wipes away the tears. He then leans in and kisses her. "You make me the happiest man on the planet" he says softly after they break apart.

They stay like that for a few seconds. His forehead on hers and looking deeply into eachother's eyes. They then remember that the picture of their baby is frozen in the screen so they turn to see it. They couldn't be happier.

They only break their stare a couple of minutes later, when they hear Dr. Evans coming back into the room. She hands Beckett a couple of paper towels to wipe the gel and asks her to get off the table.

After that, they're back at her desk.

"So, everything looks fine" she smiles at the happy couple. "You look about 9 weeks along, so there's still a while to go, but right now, everything looks perfect"

Beckett and Castle are over the moon, so they're barely putting attention on what the doctor is saying.

"Your next appointment will be in 4 weeks. You can schedule it with the receptionist. And here are your pictures" she hands them three ultrasound pictures. Each one of them is going to get one and the third one will be for Alexis. They want her to be as involved as possible.

That night, Beckett is in Castle's arms sitting on the couch. They're both staring at the ultrasound picture she's got in her hands.

"Our little peanut is so cute" Castle smiles proudly.

"Really Castle?" she turns around to face him. "Peanut?"

"What?"

"I just thought you would say something more… original"

"Like what?" he looks at her confused.

"You're the writer with the crazy imagination" she says with a grin. "You tell me"

"Oh, you're putting me to the test?" he says feigning offence.

"Indeed I am"

"Well, then I _will_ figure something out" he flashes her a cocky smile before he takes her face into his hands and kisses her.

**AN: Hey guys! I'm going to need your help! What do you think Castle would come up with to name their unborn child?  
**

**Hope you're still enjoying this!**


	14. Chapter 14

A week later, Beckett is at the precinct almost falling asleep on the mess that was her desk.

"Yo, Beckett. What's up?" Esposito calls from his desk. "Castle keepin' you up all night?" He grins.

"Shut up Javi" she glares at him. She grabs the cup of _decaf_ and takes a sip. She had had her portion of regular coffee long ago. _This one cup of regular coffee a day thing is going to be the end of me_. She sighs as she runs her hand over her face.

They had only had a couple of cases on the last week, and they were all open -and-close, so the lack of caffeine had hit her particularly hard.

She looks over at Gates' office and her stomach starts turning. She's nervous about talking to the Captain. They had decided that they would tell her that afternoon. They were going to tell the rest of their work family that night over some take-out.

"Hey" Castle walks to her desk a couple of hours later and hands her a cup of coffee.

"Hey" she looks up at him tiredly.

"Everything alright?" He's concerned about how tired she looks.

"Yeah" she sighs. "It's just that... This thing you're bringing me" she takes the cup of coffee. "Is not working" she says softly.

"Mmm, well... There's not much we can do about that"

"I know"

"You ready?" He glances at the Captain's office.

"As ready as I'll ever be" she gets up from her desk and knocks on Gates' door.

"Yes?" Gates looks up from her desk.

"Could we talk to you about something?" Beckett says.

"Come on in" she tells them. She takes her glasses off when she realizes how nervous the couple looks.

"I- um... We have something to tell you" Beckett takes the lead and Gates looks at them expectantly. "I'm pregnant"

Gates is taken by surprise and her eyes widen. "Well... Congratulations" she gives them a small smile.

Castle murmurs a soft "thanks"

Gates turns serious again. "You do realize I'm going to have to put you on desk duty for your safety, right Detective?" She looks at Beckett.

"Yes, sir. I do realize that" she had expected as much.

"How far along are you, if I may ask?" Gates eyes Beckett carefully.

"I- I'm ten weeks" Beckett's usually better at talking to her boss, but talking about personal matters had always made her nervous.

"Ten weeks..." Gates thinks about it. "We can settle on something... I gather you're not that keen on getting put on desk duty, am I right?"

Beckett nods slowly.

"Alright. Well, you can keep working with your colleagues; go to crime scenes once they've been cleared, question witnesses that are not dangerous... And if you want to go into interrogation there's no getting up close and personal with suspects and there must be another officer in there with you at all times, "Gates lists the conditions. "Arrests are off limits and remember that if you feel uncomfortable in the least in any situation, you can, and should, retire from it immediately" she watches the couple take it all in. "Are we clear?"

"Yes, sir" Beckett answers.

"But that's only for the first couple of months. Once your mobility is reduced, I _will_ take you off the field"

"Of course sir. Thank you sir" Beckett's grateful that she won't be chained to her desk for the next nine months. She would go stir crazy.

"Is that all?"

"Um, yeah" Beckett takes this as an invitation to leave and turns around.

"Congratulations again" Gates smiles at them before they leave.

That night, Javi, Lanie, Kevin and Jenny are all at the loft. They're sitting in the lounge talking while Castle hands out beers to everyone except to Beckett and Jenny.

Lanie notices this. She understands why he didn't give one to Jenny - she's breastfeeding. But why didn't he give one to Beckett? She eyes her suspiciously but Kate doesn't notice. She decides to keep it quiet... At least for now.

They laugh and talk and drink until Castle asks them what they want to eat. They decide on ordering pizza and they continue the chatter.

At some point, Beckett excuses herself and gets up to go to the bathroom. Lanie does so too and is hot on the detective's heels.

"There's somethin' you're not telling me" Lanie tells her when they're out of earshot.

"What?" Beckett turns around to face her, taken aback.

"Don't look at me like that" she means business. "Spill"

Beckett sighs. "Look, we do have something to tell you... _All _of you"

"Okay, then tell us"

"But we were-"

"What? Waiting for the right moment? Well, how about now?"

Beckett thinks about it, and she can't really argue. Lanie's right. Why not just tell them now? "Fine" she says defeated. "But may I first go to the bathroom?" She sounds like a 6 year old asking permission.

Lanie acts like she thinks about it "yes. But do it quick" she gives her a small smile.

Beckett rolls her eyes as Lanie walks back to the lounge, where the pizza had already arrived.

"I'll go get some plates" Castle disappears into the kitchen.

"Hey guys" Lanie whispers secretively at Jenny, Kevin and Javi.

"What?" Ryan asks narrowing his eyes as they all lean closer together like she's about to reveal some big secret.

"They have something to tell us. Something big!" Lanie smiles.

"What? What could they possibly tell us?" Espo asks incredulous. "What could be so important that they would call us here and everything? I mean, we already know they're getting married and everything"

"Why not just tell us?" Kevin sides with Javi.

"I agree with Lanie! There's something going on" Jenny smiles.

"I don't buy it" Espo crosses his arms. They had invited them to the loft plenty of times before after a long week for no specific reason, why would this be different?

"Wanna put your money where your mouth is?" Lanie eyes him.

"Fine. 20 bucks says this is just having a good time after a long week" Javi says.

"I say that they've got something going on" Jenny says.

"I say that it's nothing" Kevin is confident.

"Okay then" Lanie smiles.

"What's going on here?" Castle whispers like they were and is leaning secretively with them. He startles the four of them, who hadn't seen him.

"Amm, nothing" Lanie says as they all straighten up again.

Beckett comes back after Castle has handed the plates to everyone and she walks straight towards him. _Let's get this over with. _"Guys" she grabs Castle's hand and gives him a small nod. "We have something to tell you"

"Ha!" Lanie yells out a little louder than necessary.

Beckett and Castle frown confused. They see Lanie and Jenny with huge smile on their faces and Esposito and Ryan don't look too happy.

"Pay up!" Lanie grins at the boys.

Javi and Kevin reluctantly hand their money to the girls.

"What's going on?" Beckett cocks an eyebrow inquisitively.

"Nothing other than these two _detectives_" she looks pointedly at the boys. "Have no _detecting _skills what so ever" Lanie explains smugly.

"Okay..." Beckett decides to ignore what had just happened... Whatever it was. "Like I said, we have something to tell you"

The ambience turns serious as the two couples look expectantly at Castle and Beckett.

She gestures for Castle to continue.

"We're having a baby" Castle's face breaks into an enormous grin.

"Congratulations you guys!" Lanie is the first one to recover and gets up to hug Beckett.

She's followed by Javi, "well done man!" He gives Castle a manly hug.

"Congratulations!" Jenny hugs Beckett when Lanie is done and Ryan goes congratulate Castle.

Then Javi and Kevin hug Beckett.

They all have smiles on their faces. They couldn't be happier for the couple.

"Now" Esposito grins. "Where's that pizza?"

They all laugh and start getting some slices.

Now everybody knew. _You're going to have a big loving family. You're going to be the most loved little baby ever._ Beckett smiles to herself as she absentmindedly takes a hand to her belly.

* * *

**AN: Fun little chapter! Hope you liked it! **

**And remember what I had asked you about what you think Castle would name their baby? Well, I think I found it. You've already given me some good ones but I still want to hear your thoughts!**

**Thank you for all the favorite/follows/reviews! You guys are the best!**


	15. Chapter 15

Beckett's now 15 weeks pregnant and everybody knows about it. They are both very happy and excited. She's warming up to the idea. She's past the first trimester mark and most of the uncertainty has left her.

They're both in bed, enjoying the nice Sunday morning in each other's arms.

Castle looks at the ultrasound picture on the bedside table and remembers the conversation they had a few weeks ago. "You know…" he starts. "I think I've found the perfect nickname for our baby"

"Oh, really?" she looks up at him.

"Mmm-hmm"

"What is it?" she can't wait to hear what he came up with.

"You know the pregnancy book you have, where they tell you how big the baby is and they compare it to fruits and stuff?"

"Yeah…" she wonders where he's going with this.

"Well, at 15 weeks, our baby is the size of an, wait for it…."

Beckett rolls her eyes and can't help but smile. _Always the drama queen._

"Apple" he's so proud he could burst.

She doesn't get it at first, but then it dawns on her as she remembers their first case together.

He watches her as her face goes from expectation, to confusion, to understanding. Then her face breaks into a huge smile as she shakes her head. "So?" his eyes twinkle with the excitement that reminds her of a 5 year old. "You like it?"

"I think it's perfect" she really does. It's sweet and cute, and it reminds her of all they've been through from that first case, to where they're now. She sits up and faces him, before she kisses him.

Suddenly her phone breaks the blissful moment. _Of course…_

She sighs before answering. "Beckett" she sits up and listens to the phone. "I'm on my way"

Castle gets up and starts getting dressed. She does so too, and before she buttons her pants, she passes her hand over her barely noticeable bump. "Hey, Apple" she says sweetly. Castle comes behind her and puts his hand on top of hers. They both just stand there for a few seconds marveled at the fact that their little baby is right there.

They finish getting ready and head out to the crime scene. They're in a small apartment. It's pretty gory and Beckett's stomach starts turning, but she manages to get it under control. "What've we got?"

"Caucasian male, mid-forties. 3 GSWs to the chest and 2 to the head." Lanie describes the body and the the guys give her the details of the murder scene and the victim.

"Alright, let's head back to the precinct and look for the next of kin" Beckett says before they leave.

The case takes big proportions, and for the first time in the last couple of weeks, Castle actually had the material to construct one of his crazy theories.

"So the sister traveled in time!" he figures it's the only explanation.

Beckett is not listening anymore. She's sitting at her desk, closes her eyes and breathes deeply trying to control the nausea that over takes her.

"Beckett?" he looks at her when he doesn't hear her complain about his childish theories. "Kate?" he walks closer to her when he notices how pale she looks.

She gets up and runs to the bathroom with Castle hot on her heels. When she gets into the lady's room, he wonders if he should go in, but as soon as he hears her throw up, all his doubts go away and quickly rushes to her side. She didn't have time to close the stall properly, so he kneels beside her and pulls the hair away from her face.

When she's done emptying her stomach, Castle helps her get up and she washes the bitter taste from her mouth in the sink. She then closes her eyes for a few seconds and takes a couple of deep breaths.

"You okay?" Castle asks her softly.

"Hmm" she's not sure if she is. She hadn't gotten sick more than a few times, but when she did, it drained her completely.

"Want me to tell Gates that you're not feeling well?"

"No. We still have a couple of leads on the case. Besides, I've only got like…"she takes a look at her watch. "An hour left on my shift."

"Okay. But I'm getting you something to eat. What do you want?"

"I'm fine, Castle" she begins, but then the prospect of a good bear claw from her favorite shop sounds perfectly. "Actually… A bear claw would be nice"

"Alright" he says as they walk into the bullpen. "I'll be right back" he smiles at her while he gets his coat before he leaves.

When he's gone, she gets back to her desk, and keeps going through some financial records.

"Yo, Beckett" Esposito walks to her desk.

"Yeah?" she looks up from her computer, and she starts getting an uncomfortable feeling in her lower abdomen.

"Guess who wasn't where they said they were the night of the murder?"

"Hmm?" she's barely paying attention to what he's saying as she breathes through the uncomfortable feeling.

"Robert Savage" Esposito says smugly.

"Best friend of the victim?" her attention's back on him when the feeling disappears.

"Yeah"

"Well," she says getting up from her desk. "Guess we have few-"she gets interrupted by a stabbing feeling in her abdomen. She closes her eyes and puts her hand protectively on her stomach.

"Beckett" Esposito immediately walks towards her concerned. "Where's Castle?"

"He's… he left to pick up something" she's starting to get scared. She turns around to pick up her cell phone to call him, but discovers that he left his phone there.

Esposito notices that too. "Do you want me to call Lanie?"

"Yeah" she sighs.

"Come on" he gently puts her arm around his shoulder and takes her to the break room. Thankfully, there wasn't anybody in there.

Beckett looks like she's about to fall when he carefully lays her down on the couch. Her mind is numb, all she can think about is the dull pain in her lower abdomen, and all that it could possibly mean.

Esposito gets out of the room and finds a worried Ryan walking towards the break room.

"What's wrong?" concern's covering his features, when Javier stops him.

"Call Lanie. Now"

Esposito's tone doesn't leave any room for arguing, so Kevin runs to his desk and calls the ME.

"Where did Castle go?" Esposito says as he walks back into the room. He's ready to hunt him down if she needs him to.

"I- he- he'll be back in a few minutes" she says with her eyes closed, trying to focus on her breathing. She's lying on her side, with her knees close to her chest, trying her best not to start crying. The dull pain is still there.

"Want me to get you something?" it's killing him, feeling so helpless.

"No" she says simply.

"Okay" he sits on one of the chairs in front of the couch. There's no way he's leaving her alone.

A couple of minutes later, Lanie come into the break room, running and out of breath, wearing her scrubs. She looks at her best friend on the couch and kneels in front of her.

"Kate?" she says softly. "Kate, what's wrong?" she vaguely notices Javier leaving the room.

Beckett can't contain the tears anymore. "I- I'm cramping" she whispers between sobs. She looks helplessly into Lanie's eyes.

"Okay" she starts rubbing her friend's back. "Is there any bleeding?" She asks softly.

"I- I don't know" she starts crying even harder. She hadn't even checked if she was bleeding!

"Okay, it's okay sweetie. You need to calm down"

Lanie's right. She knows that, but she can't stop crying!

"Come on" she helps Beckett get up.

Beckett can finally stop crying by the time Lanie helps her get out of the break room. She's aware of all the not-so-subtle looks the other officers are giving her, but she doesn't care. All she really cares about is _why the hell hasn't Castle come-_

The elevator opens and reveals Castle. He sees Lanie helping Beckett get out of the break room. Kate's face looks pale and like she has been crying. He immediately drops the bag he was holding and runs through their side. "Kate" worry covers his features. "Kate, what's wrong?"

She just looks at him with hopeless eyes.

"Castle" Esposito puts his hand on his shoulder. "Come with me" he guides him into the break room and explains to him what happened.

He doesn't take it very well. _Why didn't I take my cellphone?! Why did I leave her?!_ He gets up and paces the room running his hand through his hair. When he tries to leave, Javier stops him.

"Let Lanie do her thing"

"But she needs me!"

"When she comes back, you can take care of her" Esposito can't even begin to understand how he must be feeling.

Castle gives Lanie _one _minute to _do her thing. _If they haven't come back by then, he's going to be with Kate.

In the bullpen, officers were whispering about what was happening. "Come on people! Get back to work!" Gates tells them. She had been informed of the situation by Ryan, and didn't want to add to the couple's stress.

When Lanie finally gets Beckett to the bathroom, she lets Kate get into a stall.

Beckett immediately unbuttons her pants and lowers them, and what she sees makes her feel lightheaded…

* * *

**AN: I know! You hate me! But I really had to cut it here! But... What did you think? I'm actually really nervous about this scene! Hope I'm doing it justice**


	16. Chapter 16

**AN: Yay! You hate me! You cannot believe how happy that makes me. That means you actually care about my little story here! Well, enough rambling...**

* * *

_When Lanie finally gets Beckett to the bathroom, she lets Kate get into a stall._

_Beckett immediately unbuttons her pants and lowers them, and what she sees makes her feel lightheaded…_

* * *

Nothing. There's no blood.

The wave of relief crashes over Beckett, she has to sit on the closed toilet to avoid falling. "Castle" she says softly.

Hearing her friend's plea, she rushes out of the bathroom and gestures for Castle to come. He runs into the bathroom and knocks softly on the stall where Beckett is.

"Kate" he says softly. "Kate, it's me"

She unlocks the door and slowly opens it, revealing Beckett's pale, tired, tear streaked face. She's looking at him, unable to talk. He kneels in front of her and strokes her cheek softly. They stay like that for a moment, with their eyes locked on each other.

Lanie clears her throat, causing the couple to look at her.

"Yeah, um…" Beckett comes back to reality. "I'm not bleeding" she sighs. Castle gets up and helps her get up and pull her pants up.

"Good, that's good" Lanie's visibly relieved. "But you need to call your doctor"

"First, I'm getting her home" Castle steps in. He takes her arm around his shoulder and helps her out of the bathroom.

"I'm fine Castle, I can walk"

"I know" Neither of them moves so that he's not helping her up anymore. "I'll go talk to Gates" he leaves her at her desk, where she starts gathering her things. She's thankful than none of the officers are prying, and she notices that Javi and Kevin don't want to pry either, but they are getting their information from Lanie.

Castle knocks on the Captain's door.

"Mr. Castle" she gets up from her desk. "Come in"

"I- um…" he steps into the office. "I'm taking Kate home" he's not so much asking, but informing her.

"Of course. She can take all the time she needs" Gates says understandingly.

"Thank you" he gives her a small nod, and then leaves to get Beckett home.

She lets him drive. The pain is gone, but she doesn't feel like it, so he obliges. They get back to the loft in no time.

Once they're inside, she goes straight to the bedroom.

"I'm calling Dr. Evans" he tells her as he takes out his phone.

"Okay" she says as she changes into something more comfortable.

He calls one of the telephone numbers and there's no answer, so he tries the other one.

"Dr. Elizabeth Evan's office, can I help you?" a receptionist answers the call.

"Um… Yeah, can I talk to Dr. Evans? It's about one of her patients"

"Dr. Evans is unavailable at the moment. She's in surgery. Is it an emergency?"

"I- I don't know… I don't think so"

"Well, I'll tell her to call you as soon as she's done. What's the patient's name?"

"Kate Beckett"

"As soon as she's available, she'll call you"

"Yeah, thanks" _For nothing! _He hangs up. He can't help feeling mad at the fact that the doctor was not there when they needed her.

"What did she say?" Beckett walks out of the bedroom.

"She was not available"

"Oh" _So now what? _Beckett wonders. Oh, well. She's feeling much better now anyway… But she's still not at ease completely.

"Oh!" Castle remembers something. "I know!" he unlocks his phone and hopes that he had saved Dr. Montgomery's number. "Yes!" he says as he finds it.

"What?" Beckett wonders what had just happened.

"I have Dr. Montgomery's number" he calls the number and takes to phone to his ear.

"Dr. Montgomery" Addison answers the call.

"Thank god" Castle sighs relieved. "Doctor, hello. It's Richard Castle"

"Richard! How are you doing? Is something wrong?" Castle hadn't called her just to catch up on their lives; there was something urgent in his voice.

"I'll- I'll pass you over to Kate" he hands her the phone.

"Hey, Dr. Montgomery"

"Kate, what's wrong?"

"I- I just freaked out a little. I- I don't think it's anything…" Beckett lies.

"What happened?"

"Well… I started feeling something uncomfortable in my lower abdomen, then it was like a stabbing pain, and it turned into a dull uncomfortable pain" Beckett describes slowly.

"Any blood?" was the first concern of the doctor.

"No…"

"Continuous pain?"

"Kind of…"

"How long?"

"Um… about 20 minutes"

It pains Castle to listen to the conversation, because he should've been there with her! She needed him for once, and he wasn't there. She faced one of her – or rather one of _their _- greatest fears and he wasn't there to help her through it.

"Okay. I'm guessing you couldn't talk to your doctor?" Addison assumes. They wouldn't have called her if they had talked to her OB.

"Yeah…"

"You're… 14 weeks?"

"15"

"15… Okay. You know I can't make an accurate diagnosis over the phone like this, but given what you're telling me Kate, I could say you're in the clear"

Kate lets out a sigh of relief. Hearing that from a professional made her feel so much better.

"However," Addison continues, "if there's any more pain, or you start bleeding, you should get to your doctor as soon as possible"

"Of course" Beckett was ready to that even before the doctor told her. "Um…" she does have something else to ask her. "I was wondering… Could you be the one to follow my pregnancy?" She trusts Dr. Evans, and knows she's completely capable of taking care of her case, but after this ordeal, having one of the best OBGYNs in the country just made her feel better. She feels like she owes it to her baby, and to herself.

Addison was not expecting that. "Oh, well… Wow. You do know I'm at the opposite side of the country right?"

"I do know that, but I would feel so much better if you were at least following up on the case"

Addison didn't even have to think about it. It wasn't a high-risk pregnancy per se - which were the cases that she usually followed up on -, but she did care a lot about the couple and hearing in Beckett's voice the plea of a mother, she knew she couldn't say no. "Alright, I could follow up on your case, but Dr. Evans needs to be on board too"

"Sure, I'll talk to her about it… So… well, that's pretty much it. Thank you so much doctor" she was really thankful to her.

"Not a problem Kate. I hope that everything runs smoothly now" she says sympathetically. "And you know you can call me whenever you need"

"Yeah"

"Say hello to Richard. Take care"

"You too" Beckett hangs up and hands the phone to Castle. She's exhausted. She's about ready to go to bed, but she knows that she's not the only one that had the scare of their lives today. Castle did too. So she sits down on the couch and invites him to do so too. They have to talk.

* * *

**AN: This chapter may seem a little rushed or lacking of emotion, but rest assured, there's lots of emotion coming in the next chaper.**

**Thanks for the favorites/follows/reviews!**


	17. Chapter 17

He sits down, and neither of them dares to speak for a few moments.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there" he breaks the silence.

"It's not your fault Rick" she sighs.

"I should have been there" he repeats himself looking deeply into her eyes. He doesn't plan to let himself off the hook any time soon.

"Yeah, well…" she won't be able to change his mind, so she drops it for now. "I'm just grateful it's over and it wasn't more than a scare" she takes her hand to her stomach.

"What happened?" he hadn't been there for the whole ordeal and all he knew was on Esposito's account.

"Well…" all the memories flood her mind. His hand finds hers, giving her the strength to go through them with him.

"I was really scared" the vulnerability in her voice made him want to hold her close forever. Never let her go. "We've been through _a lot_ together" _so many things. _They've survived a couple of bombs, shootings, being locked up, almost dying in a freezer… "But nothing has made me feel so scared in my entire life" her voice is barely there, but her words speak volumes to him.

"I know" he softy stokes her cheek. He can't believe this is happening all over again. Meredith's pregnancy had been really hard. But the emotions are different this time. Then, they were young and inexperienced and not really in love. This time, is a hundred times worse. He's not sure he would survive if he lost Kate or their child.

This experience felt for both of them, like life, karma, the universe – _whatever_ – had thrown a bucket of cold water all over them, reminding them that they were not in the clear yet – but then again – _would they ever be?_

"I asked Dr. Montgomery if she could follow our case" she informs him softly after a few minutes of silence.

"Oh" he hadn't thought of that. "What did she say?"

"That she could consult with my doctor if she felt comfortable with the whole thing"

Right on cue, Beckett's cellphone starts ringing. He gets up and brigs it to her.

"Beckett" she answers.

"Kate" Dr. Evans says. "Is something wrong?"

"Yeah, well. I had a little… situation" she really doesn't want to go through it again.

"Do you want to come in to see me?"

"Yes, as soon as you can"

"Well, my next opening is tomorrow at noon. Can you wait until then?"

"Yeah, I think so" the pain was completely gone now, nothing but a terrifying memory.

"Do you want to talk about what happened?"

"I- I'll tell you tomorrow"

"Alright. See you tomorrow"

"Thank you, doctor" she hangs up and puts the phone on the coffee table. She sighs softly as they fall into a comfortable silence.

"How are you feeling?" he wants to know what's going on in that wonderful head of hers. He looks into her eyes and sees turmoil of emotions rushing through them.

"I don't know" she really wasn't sure. "I'm scared, and I feel…" she looks back at him, searching for comfort in those magical blue eyes. "I mean, I had finally let my guard down, let myself really enjoy this…" _and now this happens. _They both finish the sentence silently. "I know things will never be perfect, but don't we deserve some happiness for a while?" she's begging now, and her eyes are starting to water.

He finally takes her into his arms as she feels the dam breaking. Her slender frame starts shaking as she sobs. His heart is ripped apart as he rubs circles on her back trying to soothe her. He hates seeing her sad like this, but knows she needs to let the tears flow after all that happened today.

After a few minutes her breathing finally starts to come back to normal. "I'm just glad you're both okay" he whispers into her ear.

"Hmm" she mumbles sleepily as she leans more comfortably on him. She's drained from everything, both physically and emotionally.

"Come on, let's get you to bed" he breaks the embrace slowly and when he makes sure she's comfortable with him carrying her, he scoops her into his arms and takes her into the bedroom.

He puts her on the bed and gives her some clothes to change into.

When she's changed and comfortable under the covers, he hears Alexis and Martha getting into the loft. He has an internal debate about whether he should ask Kate if he could tell his family about what happened or just join her in bed.

She seems to sense his predicament. "You can tell them if you want to" she says softly, feeling herself drifting to sleep.

"Are you sure?" he doesn't want her to feel uncomfortable.

"Mm-hmm" she mumbles. "They're our family" she says matter-of-factly. She didn't see why they should keep something so important from the people that care so much about them.

He makes sure she's comfortable and that she's fallen asleep before he heads out of the bedroom and meets his mother and daughter.

"Hey dad" Alexis doesn't even look up from the book she's reading in the couch.

Martha notices the grim expression on his face. "What is it Richard?"

Hearing this Alexis looks at her dad and notices the dark look of his face and Beckett's absence. "Where's Kate?"

"Umm" he sighs as he sits down on the couch beside his daughter. "She's in bed. We just had a hard day"

"Is something wrong?" Martha and Alexis immediately grow worried.

"Everything's alright. They're alright" he reassures them. "We just… We just got scared" he's looking into the distance. Not meeting the women's eyes. "It's like…" he says exasperated and covers his face with his hands. "I can't do anything about what's happening" his voice is softer. "And it's driving me crazy!" he finally meets his mother's knowing gaze.

_She's carrying the weight of everything that's going on, on her shoulders, _and there's nothing he can do about that. He knows she can handle it, but sometimes he wishes she didn't have to.

"Oh, Richard" Martha sighs as she sits by her son's side and puts a reassuring hand on his back.

He lowers his gaze from his mother's and then looks into Alexis' eyes. She takes his hand and gives him a gentle squeeze. He couldn't believe the luck he has to have such an amazing daughter. She gives him a gentle smile and he manages to give her one too.

He needed that. Sometimes, just looking at his daughter reminded him everything is going to be alright.

"I know this isn't easy" Martha continues as he turns to look at her again. "But you two can handle it" _If there's anybody who can handle this, it's those two. _She had never seen her son so happy, so accomplished, so… _in love_. "Katherine is strong. She can, and _will_ get through this" She could see how much he worried about Beckett. "She knows it'll all be worth it in the end" she gives him a soft smile.

"Yeah, dad" Alexis steps in. "Don't sell her short" she manages to lighten the mood a bit with that wonderful smile of hers. _God, he loves that smile_.

He knows they're right. He just got _so scared! _He was just praying the pregnancy would continue without a glitch.

"Now, go be with Katherine" Martha shoos him away after a few moments of silence.

"Yeah" he probably should go. He gives his daughter a kiss on the forehead, stands up and goes towards the bedroom.

He steps in and after changing into something more comfortable and before joining her, he takes a moment to just look at her. She looks so peaceful when she's asleep. When she's awake she carries the weight of the world on her shoulders, but when she's asleep… All that melts away leaving that beautiful face of hers, unburdened.

He sighs softly. She really is perfect. Just looking at her like that, and then taking her into his arms makes him realize that as long as they're together they can overcome whatever life throws at them.

_Always._


End file.
